Page 7 of Soul of Shadow
Lou shrugged. “Anything. I say we split up and do a sweep. I’ll go east, you go west.”
Charlie raised her eyebrows. “Do you really think splitting up is the most sensible idea? We are in the very forest where someone we know was kidnapped. Or murdered. Or both.”
“It’s probably not the best idea,” Lou agreed. “But for the sake of time, and because you know I don’t care much for things like ‘being sensible,’ we’re going to do it anyway.”
Laughing, Charlie shook her head. “Do you even know which way is east?”
“Duh.” Lou pointed through the trees at the hints of blue in the distance. “Lake Michigan is always west. I dosometimespay attention in class, you know.”
Charlie held up her hands. “Fair enough.”
“Great. We regroup in twenty.” Lou saluted before spinning around. Over her shoulder, she said, “Try not to get murdered, or I’ll have Abigail to reckon with.”
Charlie laughed. She reached behind to touch her back pocket, making sure the card deck she’d tucked in there before leaving the house was still in place. This was one of her rituals. Some might call it a superstition. It was the same deck of cards she bought after Sophie’s death. The cards that pulled her through the worst of her grief. Once satisfied they were in place, she turned and started walking west.
It was a slow process. Charlie wasn’t sure what she was looking for, so she tried to search everything: the ground, which was covered in leaves, pine needles, and twigs that snapped beneath her shoes; the bushes, which ranged from thick and leafy to covered in juniper needles that stung when she tried to push them aside;and the trees. The trees were her biggest point of interest. After all, it was a tree that had been vandalized with Nordic symbols, a tree upon which someone had hung Robbie’s shoes. Charlie’s gut told her that the trees would provide the answers she sought.
Charlie was surprised by how invested she was in this mystery. It’s not like it was great love for Robbie Carpenter that had pulled her into this; she barely knew him. He was perfectly nice, if a little shy. Had never been the first to offer to host a house party. Unsurprising, given that his father was the sheriff, but still. The longest interaction Charlie’d had with Robbie was back in second grade, when she and Sophie somehow roped him into a game of tetherball on the playground. Everything was going well—right up until Charlie accidentally launched the ball straight into Robbie’s nose. He left the playground sobbing. Sophie had been distraught. She never said so, but Charlie knew. Just like Sophie always knew when it came to Charlie. She missed that kind of knowing.
Charlie was so distracted by her thoughts she nearly didn’t see it.
She came to a halt in front of a birch tree. Skinny, sturdy trunk leafed with paper-thin slices of bark. It would have been so easy for her to walk right past. To miss the symbol carved just above eye level. The same one everyone had been talking about.
Odin’s Knot.
Charlie stepped closer. She reached out with one hand and ran her fingers along the deep grooves of the three interconnected triangles. This rendition was smaller than the one carved so prominently into the ash tree. Its grooves were not so harsh, so imbued with anger. This knot had been carved with a sort of tenderness, perhaps even reverence.
“You’re awfully brave,” said a voice behind her.
With a shallow gasp, Charlie spun around.
In front of her stood a boy she’d never seen before. Unusual, in a place like Silver Shores. About her age, he had night-black hair trimmed close on the sides but long and wild on top. His eyes were a startling, brilliant green. Around his pale neck was a long, thin chain. Yes, definitely a newcomer. She would have remembered him, with his catalogue-brushed beauty, a face that would stick out from miles away in their decidedly small town.
Charlie inched backward. How had this stranger managed to sneak up on her without making a sound? There were leaves and twigseverywhere. Surely she would have heard his footsteps. Yet there he was. Head cocked. Studying her.
The boy didn’t seem eager to fill the awkward silence between them. It unsettled her.
“Who are you?” she blurted at last, then half winced. Rude, but maybe he deserved it, sneaking up on her like that.
His mouth pulled up at one corner. “I’m Elias. And you are?”
No last name. Instead of answering, she asked, “Why did you say I was brave?”
The boy—Elias—raised his eyebrows, letting her know that he recognized her deflection. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked.
“No.”
Elias lifted a hand and pointed over her shoulder. She twisted her neck to see what he was gesturing to. Her eyes landed on Odin’s Knot.
“That’s the symbol, isn’t it?” he asked. “The one that everyone is talking about.”
Hesitantly, Charlie looked back at him and nodded.
“The one that means death.”
She swallowed and looked around then, as if only just realizing how alone they were. She did a quick scan of his body, looking for any threatening objects. Knives, guns, anything. She found none, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t armed. She took another step back. In the distance, she could hear the police, which was a good sign. If anything happened—if, God forbid, thisEliaswas the one responsible for Robbie’s disappearance—she could scream, and they would come running.
“So.” Elias tucked his hands into his pockets. “I would say it’s fairly brave to walk right up to a creepy death symbol and run your fingers all over it.” He thought for a moment. “Or fairly stupid.”
